Skinny Sweet Potato Soup with Turkey Bacon Crumbles

Hey there friends! I'm back with another light recipe! Even though I'm really focused on lowering sodium, lowering carbs and eating more protein and veggies, I'm still craving fall flavors! So, I'm getting more creative and finding ways to make recipes work for me. This Cooking Light soup is fantastic! I made just a couple of changes. It's got just a little bit of a kick to it, which I love! The leftovers were great for lunch throughout the week.

If you don't have an immersion blender, you could put the soup into a blender in two batches. Just remove the center of lid to allow steam to escape, but cover it with a towel to avoid splatters. But, really, if you love to cook, you'd love an immersion blender. It's one of my favorite gadgets.

Skinny Sweet Potato Soup with Turkey Bacon Crumbles
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Ingredients:
2 pounds sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise (about 2 large) 1/4 cup water 
2 teaspoons olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 4 cups unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson) 
1/4 teaspoon salt $ (I omitted) 6 turkey bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 1 ounce fresh Parmesan cheese, shaved (about 1/4 cup) 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves (optional)

1. Place potatoes, cut sides down, in an 11 x 7-inch microwave-safe baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at HIGH 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Cool slightly; discard potato skins.
   
2. Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 1 minute or until translucent. Stir in cumin and red pepper. Add stock to pan; bring to a boil. Using an immersion blender, blend until the soup is smooth. Add salt, if desired. Divide soup evenly among 6 bowls; sprinkle cooked turkey bacon and Parmesan cheese evenly over top. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Enjoy! Happy Fall :)

Skinny Root Vegetable Chip-Crusted Chicken

I have the easiest recipe for you guys! This could not be more simple: 3 ingredients. Light. Full of flavor. So... you should definitely make it.

Kroger has a fairly new line of organic, natural products called Simple Truth. I love everything I've tried. These Natural Exotic Vegetable Chips are fantastic! They are low in sodium and fit within my Total Transformation eating requirements.

The other day, I was snacking on some and thought there had to be a way to use these in a recipe. I've seen a lot of chip-crusted chicken recipes on Pinterest, but the chicken is either dredged in flour and egg, or soaked in buttermilk first. To make it healthier, I dipped mine in egg white. It was DELISH!

To ensure crispiness, I placed an oven-safe cooling rack on a baking sheet and sprayed with cooking spray. This allows the heat to circulate around the food and cook it more evenly. I do this with any coated chicken, fish, etc. It makes a big difference!

Skinny Root Vegetable Chip-Crusted Chicken
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Ingredients:
1.25 - 1.5 lbs of organic chicken breasts or tenders
1 bag of Simple Truth Natural Exotic Vegetable Chips (or Terra chips, but they are tad higher in sodium)
1/4 cup egg whites
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 375. Place cooling rack over baking sheet and spray with a little cooking spray.

Pulse all of the chips in a food processor until large pieces are broken down. You could also place in a large ziplock bag and crush. Place in a small dish.

Cut chicken breasts into tenders, if not already. Place the egg whites in another small dish.

Dip chicken in egg whites, allowing excess to drip off, then place in chip pieces and coat. Place chicken on baking sheet. Repeat until all are coated. Before placing in over, spray chicken with a little bit of cooking spray.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. My tenders were pretty small, so 25 minutes was perfect.




These made for pretty good leftovers, too. The natural chips have a slight oiliness to them, so I stored them on wax paper in an airtight container.

Each serving of 2 tenders is about 185 calories and 270 mg of sodium. Yay!

Naked Turkey Bruschetta Burger

Hey there! I'm 2 weeks into my Total Transformation and so far, I'm really pleased with the results. It's amazing what a change in your eating habits and exercise can do in such a short time frame. I can't wait to see how I'm feeling 4 weeks from now! The food component of this hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, as long as I have a plan for the day. I don't want to eat bland food, so I've been researching "skinny" versions of recipes even more than I used to. Here is one of my new favorites! This comes from SkinnyTaste.com - a great resource for lighter recipes.

The turkey burger would be great by itself (and I plan to use that basic recipe from now on), but adding the bruschetta really amps it up. It also looks beautiful - and we do eat with our eyes first :)

To reduce the sodium, I left out salt.



Naked Turkey Bruschetta Burger
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Bruschetta Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 3 medium vine ripe tomatoes
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 3 oz part skim mozzarella, diced (I chopped up 3 string cheese)

For the turkey zucchini burgers:

• 1.25 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 small zucchini, grated (1 cup, or 5 oz)
• 1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 tbsp red onion, grated
• fresh pepper
• oil spray

For serving:

• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced into 10 thin slices
• 4 loose cups baby arugula (I used mixture of spinach and arugula)

Combine the red onion, olive oil, balsamic, and pepper in a large bowl. Set aside a few minutes while you chop the tomatoes, then place in the bowl. Add the garlic, basil and additional pepper, to taste and mix well and set aside. Toss in the cheese when ready to serve.

Squeeze the excess moisture from the zucchini in a paper towel. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, shredded zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, and pepper. Form into 5 equal sized patties about 5 oz each, forming them as flat as possible.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. When hot, lightly spray with oil. Add the burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until browned, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes, careful not to burn. 

To serve, arrange 3 slices of tomatoes on each dish, then place 1 cup arugula on top in the center, then top with the burger and finish with the bruschetta (don't forget to add the cheese), serve right away. 


Enjoy!

Skinny Egg White Veggie Muffins

I have another tasty, clean, low-calorie, healthy dish to share! In my Total Transformation challenge so far, I've discovered breakfast is a challenge for me. I need something convenient and fast as I tend to grab on my way out the door and eat at my desk. My favorite thing is Chobani yogurt, but the reason it tastes so good is the amount of sugar included....of course! In an effort to cut back a bit more, I tried these egg white muffins from Eat Yourself Skinny. I made a few modifications and they turned out great! I baked them on Sunday afternoon and they keep well in the refrigerator or freezer. The are super low in calories, so I microwave 2 each morning. You could use any combination of veggies and herbs to mix things up.

Skinny Egg White Veggie Muffins
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Ingredients:
14 egg whites
4 eggs
4 green onions, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 red pepper, minced
1/2 zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp fresh chopped basil
1/2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Fresh-cracked pepper
Sea salt (I omitted to reduce sodium)


Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin tin evenly with cooking spray, or line with baking liners.

Combine veggies in a large bowl and toss to combine. Fill each muffin cup roughly 2/3 full.

Whisk eggs and seasonings in a bowl and pour into the muffin cups. They will be full to the top by the time you spread the mixture around the tin.

Bake muffins for 30 minutes until they are slightly browned.

Enjoy!!

Skinny Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

Last week, on the first day of my Total Transformation fitness challenge, I came down with a nasty cold/sinus/bug thing. I was all excited and ready to begin my 6 weeks of clean eating and working out, but my body was wiped out. I had to stay home from work all day on Tuesday. And I don't know about you, but when I'm sick I really want a hot, broth-y soup. All of the sudden, my lunch of cooked chicken breast, nuts and grapes just wasn't exciting.  I checked all of my canned soups for anything pre-made, but the sodium was off the charts! So, I opted to make something from scratch. I'm so glad I did, because it was fantastic and served as a great meal for the next couple of days.

This recipe is based on one from Cooking Light, but I made a few adjustments based on what I had and did a few things to reduce the sodium. It's really quick and easy to make! Trust me, I made it while I was loaded up on several medications and dragging myself around the kitchen.

Skinny Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
• 4 cups lower-sodium chicken broth
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained (I used Kroger's Simple Truth Tri-Bean Medley)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 ounces part-skim mozzarella
• 8 lime wedges

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, garlic and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add chili powder and next 3 ingredients; sauté 30 seconds. Add chicken and next 4 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes. Top evenly with cilantro and cheese. Serve with lime.

Later in the week when I was down to the last of my soup leftovers, I combined a little bit of the soup with some cooked rice and it was a very tasty Tex-Mex-style rice bowl. With a sliced avocado and part-skim mozzarella stick, it was a very satisfying light lunch!

Mango Ginger Salmon Salad

I almost titled this recipe "Quick-Easy-Healthy-Clean Mango Ginger Salmon Salad" but I though that was a little long :) 

I'm currently participating in a 6-week health and fitness challenge at my gym called Total Transformation. It's pretty intense, which is just what I need. It means that I'm drinking gobs of water, eating lots of small meals throughout the day and working out and strength training more in a week than I usually do. I'm 4 days in and so far, so good! My hope is to be a slimmer, more healthy version of myself 6 weeks from now, and to have adopted these habits long after the 6 weeks ends. And, you'll probably start seeing lots of cleaner, leaner recipes on Keeping Up with the Joneses!

This salad is super fast, fresh and flavorful.You could easily mix in different veggies and herbs.

Mango Ginger Salmon Salad
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Ingredients:
2 salmon filets
1 tbsp Naturally Fresh Mango Ginger Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
4 cups spinach leaves
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 large carrot (or handful of baby carrots), sliced
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Additional dressing

Preheat broiler.  Line baking pan with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray.

Brush salmon filets with with salad dressing. Broil for 12-14 minutes. My oven has a high and low setting choice, so I used low and bumped it up to high for the last few minutes for a little extra crisp.

While salmon broils, assemble salad with remaining ingredients. Top with salmon filets and drizzle with additional dressing.

Yum!